Bombers, Hawks on fire in round four of wheelchair footy
It was a great round of wheelchair football at Boroondara Sports Complex on Sunday 4 June, 2023.
Read below for the Robert Rose Foundation Victorian Wheelchair Football League (VWFL) and Community Wheelchair Football League (CWFL) match reports for Round 4, 2023:
CWFL: ESSENDON vs ST KILDA
The Community League started proceedings at the Boroondara Sports Complex for their third round of the season with Essendon going up against St Kilda. The Saints were coming off a big victory against the reigning premiers, while the Bombers were trying to get on the winners list after a 1- point loss to Hawthorn the previous week. The first half of this game was dominated by the Saints as they had the first 5 goals of the game, all coming from Sebastian Welsh who continued his fantastic form from the previous round. He was set up beautifully by Jeremy O’Halloran, who was passing it to him on a silver platter allowing Welsh to go back and slot some easy shots on goal. Mark Walker for the Saints was also playing a pivotal role in the centre position getting his team into a scoring position; one particular goal 10 seconds before half-time was brilliant as Walker tapped it down to Welsh who wasted no time, with a long shot from near half court putting the Saints up 33-0, leaving the Bombers with some work to do at the long break.
The third quarter began, and the Bombers didn’t waste any time getting their first major of the game, as James Gilders had a slick pick up off the ground and slotted one from a very tough angle. The Bombers had the first 4 of the third quarter, 2 going to Ben Milton and 2 to James Gilders, they were both assisting each other as they reduced the margin to 9 points with 3 minutes to go in the term. Antony Arulnesathasan for the Dons was massive all game, he had the ball on a string and was doing everything he could to keep his side in the game but unfortunately for the Dons, Sebastian Welsh nailed his 6th with under two minutes to go in the third to push the lead back to 15 points at three-quarter-time. As the fourth quarter began, once again it was all St Kilda, they scored 5 goals to Essendon’s zero in the final term to ensure victory as Mark Walker was handing out assists everywhere. Seb Welsh ended the game with a huge 10 goals, making it 17 in two games for the young Saint. Ben Van Raay got in on the action as well, he smashed through his first goal of the season as the crowd and players went wild for their team-mate who got on the end of a well-deserved goal. Katherine Simmons and Ashleigh Chambers also impressed in the Saints victory in what was a full team performance, while the Bombers gave it their all but unfortunately fall to 0-3 for the season. Kerryn Abblitt continued her improvement in the CWFL while Kaleb Powell’s prowess was on display again. The Bombers did show some good signs as Erin Power and Rosie Jenes both had some great moments but the Saints were just too good on the day, as they go 2-0 for the season with a 46 point victory over the Bombers.
ESSENDON 0.0 0.0 4.0 4.1.25
ST KILDA 2.2 5.3 6.3 11.5.71
Goals:
Essendon: Gilders, Milton 2
St Kilda: Welsh 10, Van Raay
Leading players:
Essendon: Arulnesathasan, Gilders
St Kilda: Welsh, O’Halloran
VWFL: ESSENDON vs ST KILDA
The first game of Round 4 for the VWFL was an intriguing match-up between Essendon and St Kilda. Both teams were coming off big losses and wanted to get their season back on track with a win. To start the game, the Saints looked impressive as they dominated possession and territory for the opening 5 minutes of the quarter. Their ball movement looked great and they were able to set up star forward Ryan Smith with the first two goals of the game. Sam Maraldo for the Dons then responded with his first of the day, followed by his accomplice in Caleb Logan not long after, to give the Bombers a 1 point lead at quarter-time. After a tightly contested first term, unfortunately for the Saints it wasn’t in the second, as the Bombers had 5 goals to St Kilda’s 1 to give themselves a nice buffer on the scoreboard. Adam Georgelin was impressive in defence and was also assisting his forwards as Sam Maraldo got the first two of the term. Caleb Logan then went into a different gear in the second quarter, looking as quick and dangerous as we’ve seen him this season as he had some fantastic marks, clean pick-ups and 3 goals in the second quarter alone. Ryan Smith did manage to get one back thanks to a lovely pass from Patrick McKay but as the half-time siren rang the bombers held a 24-point lead.
The second half was underway, and Ryan Smith took a contested mark in the goal square to have his 4th and it looked like the Saints could be possibly on their way to another comeback, but once again in came in Caleb Logan, who was playing out of this world with 3 goals in 3 minutes to prevent any major comeback from the Saints. The Bombers held a 30-point lead going into the last quarter as Logan and Smith both had two apiece in the fourth, as the margin at the end of the game still read 30 points in an impressive back-to-form victory for the Dons. Everyone chipped in for Essendon, their defenders in Georgelin, Leonard, Taylor and Kinniburgh did a fantastic job in not letting the Saints fully back into this game, and Sam Maraldo was directing traffic all over in a great display of leadership. As for the Saints, they just didn’t have enough to look too threatening in this game. It was made tough for them as Ryan Smith was being double-teamed most of the game, yet finished with 7. Pat McKay was great in the centre trying to will his side back into the contest, and Tyler Nash played an excellent role in defence, having some fantastic moments and good passages of play. Nicholas Briant, who has come out this year with some good form, had plenty of the football, and was easily one of the best players between both sides as he dominated in the centre. The Bombers ended up 5-goal victors in what was a much-needed win for them, as they can come into their next game against Collingwood with plenty of confidence.
ESSENDON 2.3 7.4 10.4 12.6.78
ST KILDA 2.2 3.4 5.4 7.6.48
Goals:
Essendon: Logan 9, Maraldo 3
St Kilda: Smith 7
Leading players:
Essendon: Logan, Georgelin
St Kilda: Briant, Smith
CWFL: COLLINGWOOD vs HAWTHORN
After a few weeks on the sidelines the Pies were back at it in the CWFL, this time against a Hawthorn side who were coming off the back of a historic 1 point victory against Essendon the week before. To start the game, inaccuracy was the story for the Pies who ended the quarter with 1.6, the only major going to Brett Newman who took a long shot from a tough angle, while the Hawks managed to get one back with a couple minutes before the siren, thanks to David Ralph who continued his goal-scoring form to end the quarter 12-6 in favour of the Pies. As the game went on, the Pies were able to start breaking the game open as Brett Newman scored another long goal. Jack Elliott then got in on the action with 2 goals in the second quarter. Ralph once again kept his side in it with another goal in the second – as the half-time siren blew the Pies had a 15 point advantage and it was still anyone’s game.
In the second half, Brett Newman scored yet another fantastic goal as he outmuscled a few opponents, then backed it up a couple of minutes later with another to extend Collingwood’s lead to 30 points. Ralph did manage to get another one, in which was the last goal for the Hawks for the day and a valiant effort as the Pies kept pushing. Jack Elliott, who had 5 goals for the day hit the scoreboard with the final 3 goals of the game to put the Hawks away by 45 points. Andrew Hutchings for the Hawks was great in defence as he tried to combat Newman and Elliot, while Gerard McCarthy also continued to impress for Hawthorn. Matthew Blunt, who starred in the Pies’ opening win against Essendon, once again proved his importance to the side as he was controlling the game in all facets, while captain Andrew Paddle set up his teammates on numerous occasions to make sure his side would start the season 2-0.
COLLINGWOOD 1.6 4.7 7.9 9.12.66
HAWTHORN 1.0 2.3 3.3 3.3.21
Goals:
Collingwood: Elliott 5, Newman 4
Hawthorn: Ralph 3
Leading players:
Collingwood: Newman, Elliott
Hawthorn: Ralph, Hutchings
VWFL: COLLINGWOOD vs HAWTHORN
The final game of Round 4 of the VWFL was played between the in-form Hawthorn side and a Collingwood side who was fresh off a bye looking to get back on the winners list. It was a hot start to this game as we saw 3 goals in the opening 3 minutes, one of them going to Collingwood’s Anthony Perito while Jaylen Brown scored 2 goals in 20 seconds to get the momentum on Hawthorn’s side. This game was extremely physical, and the pace was something to behold – the scoreboard didn’t accurately represent how well both sides were playing. The Hawks were able to get a flurry of goals in the final minutes and ended the first quarter with 6 majors, while the Pies managed to get 2 goals in the final minutes to bring themselves back into the contest, down by 18 points at the end of the first term. The second quarter seemed to be played mostly in Collingwood’s half, the problems for them were their inaccuracy in front of goal and ineffective forward zone entries, as with only a few minutes to go the Hawks scored 4 goals very quickly to give them a 31-point lead at the main break. Once again in the third, the Pies had lots of the ball, but they just couldn’t capitalise when they had the momentum, and the Hawks only needed a slight mistake to go up the court in a matter of seconds and hit many of their 20 goals uncontested right in front of the goal line.
Jaylen Brown, the new star for the Hawks, was on fire. Even though he finished with 10 goals, what was most impressive was his defensive pressure. He smothered about 6 balls off the mark to turn the ball over, allowing Yassin Hill to catch the defenders off guard as he waltzed in and scored 7 goals for the afternoon. For the Pies, Will Crooks was an absolute star as he tried everything to try and stop this new-look Hawthorn side and was clearly best on for the Pies as he was defending, trying to get his forwards into the contest, and moving across the court with extreme pace, while captain Ben Jankovski looked great along with Anthony Perito, but they just weren’t able to seize the moment when they had the chance. Alex Gale-Grime and Troy Hawkins came on in the fourth and had some great moments, Hawkins landing a fantastic goal from long range while Gale-Grime was defending beautifully. Martyn Ford played in the centre and had plenty of the football and was allowing first touch for his players, but unfortunately for the Pies the likes of Jontee Brown, Joanna Argaet and Jaylen Brown were too good at reading the football all day. Finn Broadbent for the Hawks, who we’re normally used to seeing in the forward line, spent the first half as a defender and did a great job on the likes of Perito and Jankovski, then he went up forward and scored 3 goals himself in what was a full-package performance from him. Brady Cochrane was also superb in defence, not allowing the Pies players to get easy looks on goal and giving his team the opportunity to sling-shot the ball up the court quickly to get some easy shots on goal. The Hawks once again have put the league on notice and could be a potential Grand Finalist if they can continue this kind of form. Collingwood, however, were missing their star centre Josh Christian and also Riley Fitzgerald, it would have been interesting to see what the game would have looked like with those two playing, but at the end of the day the Hawks come off with another massive win in the VWFL.
COLLINGWOOD 3.1 4.4 5.7 6.7.43
HAWTHORN 6.1 9.5 14.7 20.8.128
Goals:
Collingwood: Jankovski 3, Hawkins, Perito
Hawthorn: Jaylen Brown 10, Hill 7, Broadbent 3
Leading players:
Collingwood: Crooks, Jankovski
Hawthorn: Jaylen Brown, Broadbent
